Railway-rail brace



UNITED STATES ATENT QEEICE.

LEWIS McELRoY, or DE KALB, ASsIGNoR or ONE-HALE To EDWARD P. EDWARDS, or STERLING, ILLINOIS.

RAI LWAY-RAI L'BRAC E.

I, SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 417,499, dated December 17, 1889.

Application iled July 20, 18 89.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, LEWIS MCELROY, a citizen of the United States, residing at De Kalb, in the county of De Kalb and State of-Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway-Rail Braces; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable othersl skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of -this specification.

My invention has reference to improvei ments in railway-rail braces, and is more particularly adapted for bracing the top of the guard-rail against tilting in a direction from the main rail by the casual limpact -of the flange of the `car-wheel. The pressure of the ilange of the car-wheels against the inner edge of the ball of the guard-rail is very frequent and great, and in the successive passage of long trains this repeated pressure is so enormous as to render it almost impracticable with the present facilities to prevent the ball of the guard-rail giving way against such pressure, and thereby breaking or loosening the web-connections. Heretofore in attempting to maintain the constant mutual relation between the guard and main rails the main reliance has been upon fastening the web or base of the rails so as to prevent lateral movement of such webs. But the power exerted by the iiange of the passing wheels against the adjacent face of the ball of the guard-rail is so great in itself and has such a leverage, through the neck or vertical portion of the rail upon the web thereof, that such constant rocking pressure, together with the concussive nature of it, tend to loosen or break the web-fastenings, and therefore the latter require constant care.

Lateral braces of different forms have heretofore been used, being spiked or bolted to the tie at the side of the rail opposite to the aforesaid pressure, but the strength and permanency of such braces were proportioned only to the strength and permaneney of the bolt or spike fastenings. In my invention it is the design to form such braces integral Serial No. 318,106. (No model.)

with a plate extending under both the guard and main rails, and provided with a recess at the outer side of the Inain rail to engage the web or base of the latter, and thus serve to hold the brace at the opposite or inner end of such plate against the upper end of the neck of lt-he end of the guard-rail directly under the ball thereof.

In the drawings, Figure l represents sections of ordinary main and guard rails provided with my invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical cross-section inthe line .fr of Fig. l.

A is the main rail, provided with the usual ball or crown B, the neck or Vertical portion C, and the web or base D. i

E is the guard-rail, having the same general conformation and parts.

F F are the usual railway-ties.

G is a steel or iron plate embedded in or spiked to the tie F, and provided near'its outer end with the recess H upon its upper surface, adapted to engage the contiguous edge of the web or base D of th'e main rail, and at its inner or opposite end provided integral with its main portion with the brace J, which is projected diagonally upward and outward, and has its outer or free end abutted against the inner side of the neck C of the guard-rail E, directly under the ball B of said guard-rail. By placing the plate G under both the main and guard rails and spiking or otherwise fastening the same to the ties F the permanency of said plate is secured. The stability of the plate G is further assured from the fact that, concurrently with the lateral pressure of the car-wheel iianges upon the guard-rail, the weight of the train upon the main rail serves to hold the latter in position. 9o

IOO

guard-rail tilting inward, and thereby exerting a leverage upon the web-fastenings of said guard-rail.

The relative positions of the bases of the main and guard rails is secured by spiking, as usual; but my invention is more espeeiallyeective in preventing' the top of the guard-rail E from rocking or tilting from the main rail.

The brace-plate G having its engagement at one end against the outer edge of the inain rail A and at its other end against the inner side of the guard-rail E, the space between said rails can never be increased so long as the plate G remains unbroken.

The plate G may be made of any desirable strength or size, and can be used in such frequency as maybe desired. For the ordinary length of guard-rail two of such plates properly placed will be found suflicient; but the number of such plates should be proportioned somewhat to the number of trains passing on the main rail, and the consequent resistance required of said brace-plate.

NVhere necessary the adjacent edges ofthe webs of the main or guard rails may be contiguous, with holes therein for the usual spikes; but inasmuch as the only tendency is to crowd away from the main rail it is such pressure alone that needs to be resisted. The brace-plate G is adapted for use also about frogs or other portions of a railway-track where it is necessary to hold one rail in fixed relation to another.

VhatI claini as inyinvention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, 1S-

l. The railway-rail brace G, provided. near 011e end with the recess H, formed in its upper surface, adapted to engage the outer edge of the base of the main rail, and provided at or near its opposite end with the diagonallyupward projecting brace J, integral with the main portion of the brace G, and adapted to abut against the inner side of the guard-rail directly under the crown or ball thereof, substantially as shown, and for the purpose described.

2. The railway-rail brace G, provided with a flat central portion adapted to be placed beneath the inain and guard rails, and with the recess II, formed on the upper side of said brace G, near one end thereof, adapted to engage the outer edge of the web D of the main rail A, and further provided near its opposite end with the short brace J, projected upward and outwardly, and adapted to abut at its free or open end against the inner side of the guard-rail E, directly under the ball B of the latter, substantially as shown, and for the purpose described.

3. The combination of the rails A, the rail E, and the brace-plate G, the latter provided near one end with the recess II, formed on its upper surface,'adapted to engage the adjacent edge of the base of the rail A and projected beneath the rails A and E, and provided at or near its opposite end with the upvsf'ardly-projecting brace J, adapted to abut against the adjacent side of the rail E, directly under the the ball thereof, substantially as shown, and for the purpose described.

In testimony whereof I aifix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

LEWIS MCELROY. lVitnesses WILLIAM L. POND, JERRY REDMOND. 

